Yet Another Reads the Stories Tale (1)
by Falia7
Summary: The Lightning Thief: Mostly something to break me out of writer's block- -a shot at the 'sent to the past to read the stories'. Eventually leading into more original fanfiction, after the PJatO series, no HoO.
1. Prelude

_I know, I know. I shouldn't be starting another story. But I've discovered this one is a great way to get back in my writing mood—probably because it's almost completely cheating. Thinking of which—no copyright infringement intended._

_**Prelude**_

It was the winter solstice, the thirteen most powerful gods together in the Throne Room of Olympus for their bi-yearly gathering. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades were—unsurprisingly—arguing, each in their seats of power (Hades' temporarily there, as per usual for the solstice meetings) when a bright light flashed and three startled cries ended with three obvious demigods landing in crouches, each with a weapon in hand, and the thud something heavy landing on stone.

The one in the middle—the apparent oldest—had a glimmering Celestial Bronze blade that Poseidon found suspiciously familiar while the obvious youngest held a blade that could only be Stygian Iron, the trademark bow of the Hunters of Artemis appearing—complete with arrow knocked—in the only girl's hands.

Zeus hesitated, as confused as the others, and the three blinked and looked around.

"What the…" they noticed each other and the gods at the same moment.

Weapons were immediately put away, the Hunter's bow vanishing while the youngest sheathed his blade and the one in the middle had his blade shrink and tucked the resulting item in his pocket.

Hastily, the three lined up and bowed. "You summoned us, Lords and Ladies?"

Zeus stood, "We did not. Who are you, and why are you here?"

The Huntress looked up, obviously startled, and the boy in the middle laid a hand on her shoulder as she started to open her mouth.

Artemis began to stand, but a look from Zeus stopped her.

"Look around. This isn't right."

The girl began to examine the room, the younger boy doing the same.

Both paled—and the boy had been quite pale already. "What are we doing in the _old_ throne room?"

The middle one was frowning, hair _still_ shadowing his eyes, and the Hunter glanced at him, clearly as nervous as the younger one who'd asked the question. "You don't think… _he_ had anything to do with this?"

"No," The boy shook his head. "That wasn't Kronos' work."

The gods hissed at the name.

Slowly, the Hunter nodded, apparently taking the boy at his word. That in itself was highly unusual, but the added remark had the already edgy gods exchanging glances. "I suppose you would know, all things considered."

Some of the comments—'_old_ throne room' and Kronos' name among them—indicated that these three were not of their time, and the fact that the middle demigod was believed capable of recognizing Kronos' power… it was unsettling.

The boy huffed, "Where's Wise Girl when you really need her? She'd be able to tell us if we're about to royally screw up our own future…" he scanned the gathered gods and settled on the one he had a question for, "Lady Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, I have a question for you. If we were to tell you about our pasts and your futures, would they then be changed?"

Athena frowned, but decided to indulge the boy. "It is impossible to change one's own past, child. Though you may change the course of our future, it would be a branching, a different path. Your pasts would remain as they are."

"Thank you for answering, my Lady. Then I guess it won't cause any harm; I am Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

The Huntress sighed, "If you're going to introduce yourself, Kelp Head, you should do it _properly._"

Poseidon had been clearly surprised by the announcement. He and his brothers had taken vows not to sire demigod children—had he truly broken his oath? Yet… he could feel the sea in the one who was apparently his child.

Zeus was growing angry, as evidenced by the low rumble of thunder and the clouds gathering overhead, but the boy only huffed.

"Fine. Percy Jackson, sixteen years old, Son of Poseidon, and… Savior of Olympus."

Zeus was surprised enough that the anger was set out of his mind.

The Huntress stepped forward and inclined her head, "Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus, and Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. Age… that's a tough one. I spent a few years as a tree," she caught Zeus' alarmed look and added, "Long story. 'Cuz here brought me back."

The third took his turn, stepping up. "Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades, and known as the Ghost King. Age… um. Do seventy years in a time-stop count towards age? If not, then fourteen."

"Now that we have _that_ settled," it was Hera who spoke, surprising almost everyone else in the room, "What is in the chest that appeared with you, Half-Bloods?"

A pause as the three looked behind them and Percy made his way over to the chest, picking a sticky-note off the top and reading the Greek-lettered message aloud.

_Gods, Goddesses, and Demigods;_

_If the world is to remain in existence, Fate must be changed. Though the Demigods have done more than could have been asked of them, the continuous battles of their time have caused such strain that their world has become unstable. To prevent the destruction of all worlds, we have passed these three unto you, and placed the thoughts and experiences of one of them down in writing._

_You may not leave Olympus until all the books have been read, in order. Demigods, do not give away too much before you reach those points in the books._

_Much will be changed should you learn from what you hear._

—_The Fates_

_(PS. No killing the demigods. This means YOU, Zeus.)_

Percy bit his lip, fearing what some of that might mean, but there was nothing that could be done about it until the books were read. He only hoped that the books were written in Greek.

Another breath, and he opened the lid of the chest only to give a strange sound, halfway between a groan and a laugh.

"What?" Nico looked over Percy's shoulder and laughed. "Guess we get to see it from _your_ point of view, Percy!"

Thalia moved closer, picking up the top book. "_Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. _This is from before we met, isn't it?"

Somewhere between amused and irritated, Zeus interrupted. "What the Fates decree, even the gods cannot challenge. Come, bring the book here. I will begin to read."

Thalia blushed, "Yes, Father."

Seeing as the book was normal mortal size, Zeus shrank himself down to match, the other gods following suit. With snapped fingers, a much smaller circle of chairs—most shaped like the thrones, although there were three distinctly set for the demigods of the future, each on the left side of their fathers' mini-thrones.

Appropriate, as Hera had Zeus' right.

"Sit," Zeus commanded.

Various beings obeyed, and Zeus opened the book.

_xxxx_


	2. Chapter 1

_Everything in **Bold** belongs to Rick Riordan._

_Chapter 1_

**I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher**

A slight pause followed the chapter title, and Poseidon glanced down at his son from the future. "How did you manage _that?_"

Percy fidgeted, "Um, you'll probably find out pretty soon."

Zeus returned his attention to the book, his question pre-empted by his brother.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

A pause as the gods' attention turned to the clearly uncomfortable boy. "Not that I dislike Dad or anything, it's just…" he waved a hand, trying to illustrate without words.

Poseidon was not the only one to frown as Zeus continued.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to live a normal life.**

**Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

Most of the gods were looking down by the end of those two short paragraphs, knowing the truth of the words.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe none of this ever happened.**

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before **_**they**_** sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

Hera interrupted, "Why is this written like it's for mortals?"

Apollo shrugged, "Who knows? It's the Fates—even I don't get them."

Zeus pretended he hadn't heard.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

**Am I a troubled kid?**

Nico stifled a snort as Thalia put a hand over her mouth.

Poseidon, seeing that, closed his eyes. Twelve seemed so _young…_

**Yeah. You could say that.**

Nico snickered and Zeus paused to look at Hades' son.

"Sorry," Nico shifted, trying to stifle his reaction. "It's just… _Percy._"

The Lord of the Sky shook his head and returned to reading.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan—twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

Athena perked up at the mention of the museum, looking more interested even as Poseidon tilted his head.

How could a field trip to a _museum_ go wrong?

**I know—it sounds like torture.**

Athena turned a glare on Percy, who only shrugged. "What? You try taking twenty-eight crazy kids into a museum and see how well it works out!"

The Goddess of Wisdom paused. "… I'd rather not."

The resounding silence that followed that near-agreement was broken when Zeus decided to go back to the book, which made more sense than his daughter agreeing with a son of Poseidon.

**Most Yancy field trips were.**

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

Athena's glare was back on Percy, who pretended not to notice.

Hermes tilted his head a bit, "That teacher sounds kind of like Chiron."

**I hoped this trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get into trouble.**

Poseidon raised an eyebrow at his son.

Thalia snickered, "Kelp Head's luck is _terrible._"

Zeus decided to ignore the byplay. The sooner they got through all these books, the sooner they could leave.

**Boy, was I wrong.**

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like my fifth-grade school, when we went to a Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

Zeus' lips twitched and Apollo and Hermes broke into outright laughter. Ares grinned at the thought of destruction and Poseidon had the feeling he didn't want to know.

A gasping Hermes asked anyway, "What _were_ you aiming for?"

Percy blushed, "I didn't think the thing _worked!_ What kind of idiot leaves a loaded cannon where kids can get at it?"

After a few more moments, the laughter died down enough for Zeus to continue.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever and our class took an unplanned swim.**

This time, Poseidon was the one smiling while most of the others were laughing all over again.

"Bet the sharks just _loved_ that!" Nico grinned at his cousin.

Percy shrugged, "No one got eaten."

Zeus waited until the laughter died down again, privately thinking that the kid was pretty entertaining.

**And the time before that… Well, you get the idea.**

Hermes made a disappointed sound, but settled at the irritated glance shot his way.

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

**All the way to the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut-butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

Several of the listeners made faces.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

Two snickering demigods got splashed with seawater.

Zeus continued as though nothing had happened, despite the fact that one of the wet demigods was his daughter.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

It was Poseidon who interrupted, "Even if it was not your doing?"

Percy nodded, scowling, but then he looked up to see his father's clear irritation. This was obviously before he'd even been born, and his dad was already protective. The thought made something warm inside him. "It's all right, Dad. Really. Not to mention it hasn't even happened yet."

Poseidon nodded reluctantly, settling further back into his seat.

"**I'm going to kill her,"****I mumbled.**

Ares perked up.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's ok. I like peanut butter."**

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"**That's it," I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

Ares huffed and sat back, folding his arms.

"**You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.**

Artemis was on her feet with an enraged cry, "What! You would harm a maiden?"

Thalia stood, drawing the goddess' attention, "Please, Lady Artemis. He was young, and she was… deliberately goading him."

The fact that a Hunter was defending a boy was enough to shock all of them, but Artemis thought that over and decided to trust her apparent future lieutenant. "Very well, there is something to what you say. I will reserve judgment… for now."

"Are we ever going to get this over with?" Dionysus complained.

Zeus' only comment was to return to reading.

**In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to what I was about to get myself into.**

Poseidon began to look a little alarmed.

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**It blew my mind that some of this stuff had been around for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Longer," Athena corrected, oddly mildly.

Zeus ignored the brief interjection.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx at the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a **_**stele**_**, for a girl about our age. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

Athena looked somewhat mollified that he was at least _interested._

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

Athena considered that and decided she wasn't terribly surprised that the boy had such trouble learning in that school. If the students were enough to drive a teacher to breakdown, they would be more than enough to drive a demigod to distraction.

Hades, on the other hand, was wondering why that description seemed familiar while Nico groaned aloud.

Most of the gods glanced at Nico, who shrank back in his chair and gave a weak wave.

Hades began to get a niggling suspicion that made him a bit nervous. Even if Poseidon hadn't met his son before this day, the Sea was _very_ defensive of his children, especially when it came to other gods.

Zeus sighed and turned the page, gaze firmly on Greek letters.

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detentions for a month.**

Nico hid his face in his hands. Alecto still did that every time she saw Percy. He hadn't realized she was the first monster his cousin had ever met.

Poseidon frowned.

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He'd looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

Athena tilted her head, "Is every demigod's mind so prone to disorder? These thoughts link… oddly."

Percy shrugged.

"Random is our lives," Nico offered while Thalia only sighed and nodded.

The Goddess of Wisdom frowned, considering.

Zeus went back to reading again.

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you **_**shut up?**_**"**

**It came out louder than I'd meant it to.**

Nico snorted and Zeus ignored him.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

"**Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

The oldest of the gods were understandably disgruntled, and this time Zeus interrupted himself. "It had to be that, didn't it?"

Percy shrugged, a little abashed. "You're not going to like the next part. In my defense, I didn't know any better, then."

Zeus glanced a bit further down the page, got an instant look of rage before visibly reigning in his temper.

"**Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because…"**

"**Well," I wracked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and—"**

Zeus continued to read over outraged sounds.

"**God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

"**Titan," I corrected myself. "And… he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"**

"**Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"—**and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

Most of the gods exchanged incredulous glances. "Did he just shrink our greatest war to date into a few sentences?" Hera demanded.

Athena nodded, "He did manage to be correct, though."

**Some snickers from the group.**

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"**And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"**Busted," Grover muttered.**

"**Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

The demigods chuckled a little—that was Chiron, all right.

"An apt question," Poseidon mused.

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"Believe me, I know now," Percy grimaced.

The Sea God decided he _really_ didn't want to know.

"**I see," Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe,**

Percy shuddered, causing Poseidon to look at him in something between confusion and concern.

The other two demigods in the room were watching Percy carefully, and the exchange did not go unnoticed. Zeus paused, an uneasy suspicion growing in him.

"Sorry," Percy offered a weak smile, "I just—that scythe _sucks._ I'm sure it will explain later."

Poseidon shifted to place a hand on his son's shoulder, concerned, and Zeus suddenly felt that reading about the future was a good—if disturbing—idea.

**and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

"'Happy note'?" Hades asked, "Really? Even I don't think of Tartarus as 'happy'."

Zeus rolled his eyes and continued.

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

**Grover and I were about to follow them when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew what was coming.**

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go—intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

Percy shook his head fondly. How close to right he'd been.

"**You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

"**About the Titans?"**

"Really?" Thalia's voice cut in, incredulous.

Percy rolled his eyes and didn't answer.

"**About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

"**Oh."**

"**What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

"Ooooh, and he lays on the pressure," Hermes snickered.

The Traveler God was suddenly doused in saltwater. "What was that for, Uncle P?"

Poseidon raised his hands slightly, "I was not the one who did that."

Percy smirked, "Because."

"Oooh, can I join in?" Nico asked, "I could set zombie minions on him!"

Thalia grinned, electricity gathering about her hand, "I don't know, Nico—I might be better. After all, he's covered in _saltwater_ right now…"

Hermes was caught between laughter and irritation, with maybe a little uneasiness at the electricity. Saltwater was an _excellent_ conductor. "Is this how you treat your gods?"

Thalia and Nico exchanged glances and seemed to realize what they were doing. "Oh, gods," Thalia groaned, the mini lightning bolt fizzling out as she put her head in her hands. "Kelp Head's _contagious._"

Percy grinned.

Poseidon closed his eyes. This particular child would be the death of him, he was sure.

Zeus cleared his throat and went back to reading.

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted "What ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No—he didn't expect me to be **_**as good.**_** He expected me to be **_**better.**_** And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long, sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

Zeus lowered the book, "We are halfway through the chapter. Would anyone else like to read?"

Athena shrugged, "I will. Son of Poseidon or not, it is somewhat enlightening to see things from a demigod's perspective. I did not realize that their heritage influenced their ability to learn in English so strongly."

Zeus passed the book and Athena picked up where he'd left off, ignoring the incredulous looks the other gods were giving her.

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

Athena paused and Apollo beat her to the question. "Dude, what are you two fighting about _this_ time?"

Zeus and Poseidon eyed each other for a moment.

Percy snorted, "Future, Apollo. If anyone should know, aside from those of us who are _from_ said future, it would be _you._"

Snickers came from various parts of the 'audience'.

Apollo sat back with a pout.

Athena's lips quirked slightly, but she returned to reading without comment.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from **_**that**_** school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

"**Detention?" Grover asked.**

"**Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius."**

"Except when making stupid plans," Nico muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Percy doused him.

Athena ignored the byplay, continuing as though uninterrupted.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Several of the group chuckled at that, Thalia adding a snickered, "That's so… _Grover._"

Athena raised her voice ever so slightly as she continued.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand the sad look she'd give me.**

Ares couldn't seem to help himself. "Mamma's boy."

Hera glared, "Is there something wrong with that, Ares?"

The War God shifted a little, grumbling, but didn't outright argue.

Percy hid a smirk.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.**

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

All three demigods twitched. Thalia's hands began to crackle with tiny lightning bolts and Nico seemed to be gathering shadows around him. Percy's fists were clenched, and the floor rumbled.

Certain fathers quickly intervened, calming their children.

The story continued.

"**Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckled were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Eew," Aphrodite made a face. "That's just…"

Hermes started to grin and Percy doused him again. "No pranking ideas from my life story."

Artemis couldn't help but smile at the twin looks of disappointment from Hermes and Apollo.

Athena shook her head, determined to ignore the byplay.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

Nico and Thalia exchanged vindictively pleased grins. "And _that_ was for Grover!"

Artemis wondered who this 'Grover' was that her future Lieutenant thought so highly of him.

Athena continued as though there had been no interruption.

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—"**

"—**the water—"**

"—**like it grabbed her—"**

Poseidon smirked.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was ok, promising to get her a new shirt from the museum gift ship, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey—"**

"**I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

Apollo and Hermes gasped in unison before the Trickster God put a dramatic hand to his forehead, "No! You _never_ guess your punishment! They always make it _worse!_"

Athena rolled her eyes, continuing with a forceful edge to her voice.

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"**Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

"**Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. **_**I**_** pushed her."**

Thalia smiled. "Good old Grover."

Athena huffed. "Can we get through more than four paragraphs without someone interrupting?"

The majority of the group fidgeted.

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

"**I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

"**But—"**

"**You—**_**will**_**—stay—here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

"**It's ok, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

"**Honey," Mrs Dodds barked at me. "**_**Now.**_**"**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

Nico and Thalia shivered in unison while Percy smirked slightly.

Hades shook his head, "Can't be that bad," he said reasonably. "From a twelve-year-old."

"Er, Dad…" Nico hesitated, "His is worse than _yours._"

Athena gave a pointed glare to shut the two up and continued to read.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

Athena frowned at the book, but didn't stop reading.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

**I wasn't so sure.**

Poseidon was starting to get a very bad feeling.

Hades abruptly remembered his previous suspicion and Nico went back to hiding his face in his hands.

The God of the Dead discreetly summoned his Helm of Darkness.

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

**I looked back up and Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

Poseidon's bad feeling got significantly worse, and he set a hesitant hand on his son's shoulder, reassuring himself that, whatever had happened, Percy was alive.

Percy, for his part, looked up at his father in surprise before smiling.

The other gods didn't notice the silent byplay. Most were occupied listening, interested despite themselves. Dionysus was staring resolutely at a wine magazine, Hades was making sure his Helm was still out of sight, and Athena—the one most likely to notice—was still reading.

**Okay, I thought. She'd going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

**But apparently that wasn't in the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"Great," Hermes muttered, "No witnesses." Despite the disrespect the boy had shown—getting doused in icy seawater wasn't fun to anyone who wasn't a child of Poseidon—he was liking the kid.

Poseidon involuntarily tightened his grip.

Percy felt the increase of pressure, but it didn't hurt thanks to a certain Curse, so he didn't complain. It actually made him feel kind of warm inside, to realize his father cared so much already.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

Hades was quite sure exactly what the boy faced. He prepared to grab his Helm and get out of the way.

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…**

"**You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

Nico sank further in his chair, making a whimpering sound.

Percy looked over, glanced at his father, and then interrupted. "Nico, come here."

Hades didn't protest, so Nico scrambled over to sit cross-legged at Percy's feet.

Aphrodite looked interested. Percy, not noticing, put a hand on Nico's head and ruffled his surrogate little brother's hair.

Athena glanced over, shook her head, and once again returned to reading.

**I did the safe thing. I said "Yes, ma'am."**

Thalia stared. "Ok, who are you and what have you done with Percy Jackson?"

Percy blinked, "You know, I _was_ twelve."

"Percy. From what I've heard, even at _twelve_ you never did 'the safe thing'."

Percy shrugged his free shoulder sheepishly as Poseidon's grip tightened just a little more. If Percy didn't have the Curse of Achilles, his shoulder would have been completely crushed by the god's strength. "Not now, please, Thals."

She stared for a moment and Percy flicked his eyes deliberately towards his father and the less-than-gentle grip on his own shoulder.

She got it and dropped that subject. "Um, Uncle Poseidon? Percy kind of needs that shoulder."

Poseidon blinked, realized just how much pressure he was putting on his son's shoulder, and immediately let go. "Percy, why didn't you _say_ something?"

Percy shrugged, waving off his father's alarm. "I'm fine. As you've said before—the Sea will never hurt me."

"The water itself may not," Poseidon was clearly agitated, "but a god's full strength…"

That brought _everyone's_ attention to the two, book temporarily forgotten. Apollo stood up and made his way over towards them, obviously with the intent of checking Percy's shoulder.

Percy sighed. "Look, I'm fine. If it had hurt, I would have said something. Chalk it up to a _really_ not fun swimming trip."

The looks became skeptical. A son of the _Sea God_ not enjoying the water?

Poseidon frowned, "Percy, the only waters that would harm you belong to…"

"The Underworld? Yeah, not fun. I'm sure it'll be explained later."

"Wow," Apollo stopped to stare in something that looked suspiciously like awe. "You swam in the Styx and survived?"

"'Swam' might be too strong a word," Percy admitted. "More like… collapsed into. And that's really a story for another time, considering we're supposed to go through this _in order._ So can we get back to the book?"

"Percy is right," Zeus stated. "We should continue."

Apollo returned to his seat and Athena looked back at the book and found her place.

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me."**

"If only you were right," Nico muttered, just loud enough for Percy and Poseidon to hear.

Poseidon paled.

**I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

"**We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

**All I could think was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on **_**Tom Sawyer**_** from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

Athena paused long enough to give Percy a long, withering look.

He shrugged sheepishly.

"**Well?" she demanded.**

"**Ma'am, I don't…"**

"**Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals.**

Poseidon's hands clenched into fists. He knew his son would live—but what had happened in the meantime? How much pain would he suffer?

**Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"Hades!" Poseidon exploded out of his chair in rage as he recognized the creature.

Hades, having expected that reaction, had already yanked on his Helm of Darkness and melded into the sparse shadows of the room, making sure to be far away from his chair—which was crushed from a pressurized jet of seawater while the entire throne room shook. The New York shoreline was spontaneously hit by a series of tidal waves.

Nico's chair wasn't completely spared, though it was clear Poseidon hadn't been aiming for it, and spun across the room before landing on its side—ironically at the foot of his father's black throne.

Percy sighed, closed his eyes for a brief moment, and stood. He walked up to his raging father and caught his wrist, all but dragging the Sea God back to his chair—which, Percy knew, was mostly because Poseidon allowed it.

Percy then spent several more seconds calming his father enough that the throne room stopped trembling.

"Is it safe to come out, yet?" Hades asked, voice seeming to come from every shadow in the room.

"Give it a minute, Uncle Hades," Percy cautioned. "Dad, not that I don't appreciate it, but it hasn't happened yet. And the whole point of this is to _keep_ it from happening by preventing the events."

"Killing Hades would prevent him from sending monsters to attack you," Poseidon growled, still angry.

"Well, yes, but that's still Nico's dad, and Uncle Hades isn't really that bad later on. He had a good reason to be angry—so, please promise you won't keep trying to kill him? And… Zeus had a good reason too, I swear. It's not their fault that they think I'm to blame."

Poseidon examined his son's expression for several seconds, then sighed. Far below, the sea began to calm. "Very well. I will not attempt to kill either of my brothers due to the words written in a book that hasn't happened yet."

Percy smiled gratefully, "Thanks, Dad. Okay, Nico. I think it's safe for you to get your seat back, now."

Athena blinked. "Is that why you called him over?"

"I wasn't sure how Dad would react to finding out Hades was after me. I didn't want my cousin caught in any crossfire, and I figured Dad would be careful to keep me out of it."

Aphrodite pouted. There went that idea.

Hades appeared out of a shadow, Helm of Darkness in hand, and made new chairs for himself and his son.

Once everyone was seated, Athena returned to reading.

**Then things got even stranger.**

Several odd looks were cast Percy's way.

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"**What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

Poseidon cast a frantic glance at his son and calmed slightly upon seeing Percy's grin. Obviously nothing too bad had happened.

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

Ares muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Wimp."

Percy only smirked back, remembering when he'd gotten the best of the God of War.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

Thalia snorted. "Only you, Kelp Head. Only you. First time you get your hands on a sword and you take out a Fury."

Percy grinned at her.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed through her body as if she were made of water. **_**Hisss!**_

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"Okay, that's creepy imagery," Apollo stated.

Athena ignored him, resolutely continuing to read.

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"The mist still affected you after _that?_"

Percy shrugged.

Athena raised an eyebrow. "I do not believe you actually _ate_ your lunch."

Percy thought that one over. "Huh."

The goddess shook her head and returned to the book.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Who?" came from most of the gathered gods and goddesses.

Athena rolled her eyes.

**I said, "Who?"**

"**Our **_**teacher.**_** Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"**Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as though he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

"**Sir," I said, "Where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"**The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

Athena closed the book, "That's the end of the first chapter."

"One of two options, then," Apollo rubbed his hands together. "Either Grover is a satyr or a clear-sighted mortal—I'm inclined to say the former, considering the fact that all three of our visitors seem to know him—and Mr. Brunner someone similar who can lie better… or Percy's imagination is really screwed up and all of that was some wacked out dream."

Thalia huffed, "If _that_ was one of Percy's dreams, I'd be wondering what we're doing here. Percy's dreams are _scary,_ highly prophetic, and _waaayyy_ more dramatic than that."

Apollo blinked about the same time most of the other gods did.

Poseidon closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Thank you, Thalia," Percy was understandably sarcastic.

"You're welcome, Percy."

Percy tilted his head as he glanced at his father, who appeared to be trying to keep from freaking out. "Hey, Uncle Hades? Is it possible for gods to get heart attacks?"

Hades blinked, looked at his not-quite-hyperventilating brother, and smirked. "I do believe we'll be finding out before the end of this book reading."

Percy took pity on the Sea God. "Dad, if it helps any, I _am_ still alive. I'm sixteen, now—I lived long enough to keep Olympus from imploding."

Poseidon cast a somewhat frantic look at his son and Percy realized that probably hadn't been the best choice of phrasing. "I mean… oh, gods. I don't know—I've managed this long. And that was when—" Percy shut his mouth.

Thalia laughed at him, "Can't say much without giving things away out of order, can you?"

Percy glared at her.

Thalia 'eeped' and shrank back in her chair.

Artemis raised an eyebrow.

Zeus cleared his throat, "It is late. Let us eat and rest—we can continue in the morning."

_xxxx_

After dinner, the three demigods were shown to the 'guest rooms' of the Olympus palace. Nico and Percy were given one, while Thalia got a room across the hall.

It wasn't long before all three were asleep.

When three o'clock in the morning rolled around, however, Percy dreamed—in his unhappy, demigod fashion.

He had seen the Fates before, but having them appear in his dream, speaking in in voices that sounded like they belonged to young girls rather than the crones they resembled, was unsettling.

_We will speak plainly._

_You cannot go back._

_All you have known was destroyed._

_You _will not_ be allowed to end your own life. To ensure this, your Curse will be changed. Where once you could be harmed, from now on you cannot. But as these hear your memories, so will you relive them. Though you will not be returned to that time, any injury you suffered you will suffer again. Any pain you suffered, you will suffer again. Any illness you suffered, you will suffer again._

_You _will_ tell your father and Apollo of this, or your demigod cousins will suffer your pain alongside you._

_Be warned, the changing of your curse will also cause pain._

… _For what it is worth, Percy Jackson, we are sorry. Only the demigod children of those you know as 'The Big Three' are ever powerful enough to survive such a transfer. Most Cyclops, including your brother, cannot. The hellhound and the Pegasus might survive… we will try. If they make it, you can send them to Camp Half-Blood, though we suggest warning about the hellhound._

_So shall it be._

Percy woke screaming.

Nico was on his feet in a heartbeat, scrambling to wake Percy—only to realize that this was no nightmare.

Percy's back arched as he screamed in raw agony—it was like being dropped in the Styx all over again.

Nico didn't know what to do and the door to the room burst open, Thalia rushing in with drawn bow.

She was the first to recover from her shock. "Apollo! Poseidon! Hear me—Percy needs help!"

The two appeared, immediately going to try and heal him.

Nothing happened when Apollo's glowing hand touched Percy's chest, the glow dissipating without effect.

Poseidon had another idea, immediately encasing the entire bed and several feet around it in a sphere of seawater that Apollo quickly backed out of. The screams were immediately muffled, but Percy continued to seize for several more seconds before finally going limp, chest heaving.

Poseidon knelt, reaching out to place a hand on his son's forehead.

Percy opened his eyes and turned his head slightly, looking at his father.

A silent conversation passed between the two, and Poseidon frowned in clear concern before nodding reluctantly and standing. The sphere of water vanished and Percy sat up, "Ow," he offered, a little weakly.

"Okay, Percy—what in freaking _Tartarus?_"

"The Fates gave me a message… and kinda changed my Curse to something a bit more… complete." He bit his lip, looking from Poseidon to Apollo, then to his friends.

"Anyway, to quote 'we will speak plainly, you cannot go back.'"

Nico and Thalia paled, but Percy plowed on, skipping very little. "'Your Curse will be changed. Where once you could be harmed, from now on you cannot. However, as these hear your memories, so will you relieve you will not be returned to that time, any injury you suffered you will suffer again. Any pain you suffered, you will suffer again. Any illness you suffered, you will suffer again.'

"They also said to tell Dad and Apollo, which makes me guess that the _healing_ that I remember isn't going to be happening. And that the changing the curse was not going to feel too great."

It was Poseidon's turn to pale. Hearing about his son being hurt was bad enough—now he was going to have any danger to his son from his past be an equal danger in their present?

"Oh, gods…" Thalia whispered—that was a pretty bad set of news from the Fates.

Nico blanched. "Percy…"

Percy's eyes were dark, like a stormy sea. "They said it's all been destroyed."

Thalia knew she could handle that bit of news better than the other two. Percy and Nico were the ones from their world she'd been closest to, and she was not so attached to many others except Grover and Annabeth… tears stung her eyes.

"Oh, Percy…" she realized what had just happened. Nico had it bad enough, but Percy? "Your Fatal Flaw…"

Poseidon's gaze snapped to his son's face.

Nico caught on. "Oh, gods…" There were few enough that Nico was close to. But Percy? Their entire world had been his self-assigned responsibility. This was the demigod who'd taken the sky of his own accord, just to save his friends. And now…

Poseidon moved to sit on the bed next to his son. He wasn't sure what Percy's Fatal Flaw was, but…

"Percy," he twisted, taking hold of his son's shoulders and forcing Percy to face him.

Percy's eyes were blank, almost empty. He made a weak, choked sound and crumpled, Poseidon barely managing to catch him. The God of the Sea wrapped his son in a hesitant hug that became almost crushing as Percy broke down.

Nico had tears running down his face and Thalia moved to comfort him despite the tears in her own eyes.

Thalia sniffled and looked up, "Lord Poseidon…"

Poseidon raised his head to look at her, feeling lost. He didn't know what to do.

"His Fatal Flaw is loyalty."

That hit like a punch to the gut. The total breakdown suddenly made sense. If he had been the Prophecy Child…

Poseidon closed his eyes, tucking his son's head under his chin. "It's not your fault."

What else could he say?


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

When the group of thirteen gods and three demigods reconvened in the throne room, it was quickly noticed that a fairly large fraction of the group—two demigods and two gods—were extremely concerned for the third demigod. All three of the demigods were clearly upset, but Percy was walking in a daze, almost completely unaware of what was going on.

Apollo cleared his throat, "The Fates… sent a message last night. The three demigods can no longer return to their world. It has been destroyed."

Shock radiated from the gathered deities—how could that be?

"As if that weren't enough," Apollo continued, sounding a little bitter, "Percy Jackson no longer has the Curse of Achilles. It has been changed. He has no weak point… but there will be interruptions while we read, as while we hear his memories, he will be forced to relive their physical effects… at least on the _infliction_ side. As the healing is another story, Poseidon and I will be ensuring his health."

Just to be on the safe side, Apollo handed Poseidon a canteen of Nectar before going and matter-of-factly sitting in his seat, though he did cast another worried glance at the son of the Sea God.

Zeus and Hades looked to their children as Artemis looked at the one a future her had accepted as a Hunter. Thalia seemed to be upset, yes, but not taking it so badly as the other two.

Which actually made sense. The Hunters knew not to get attached to anything mortal.

Nico's eyes were rimmed red and he was clearly sad, but he managed a weak smile when he noticed his father's concern. "I'll be fine, Dad. I didn't know very many people, really. Percy and Thalia are my surrogate family, and they're here. Percy's the one who lost the most."

Hades nodded, casting a glance at Poseidon and his son. The boy was clearly distraught, but Hades wasn't going to ask. He had a feeling they were going to find out soon enough.

Athena looked around—everyone was in their proper seats. Dionysus had picked up his wine magazine, Ares had summoned himself a sword catalog, and the two were apparently fully prepared to pretend not to listen. Even they wouldn't disobey the Fates, however, so it was an obvious front.

She hesitated a moment more, glancing at each demigod in turn. Despite the fact that he was Barnacle Breath's son, even she had to admit (to herself) a bit of concern. The boy was… shattered. And the son of Hades' comment was worrying.

She sighed, "Perhaps we should just get started." The books were the boy's memories, after all. He knew what was in them better than any of the other listeners—if he was the only one not really paying attention, that was all right.

Zeus nodded his agreement and Athena picked up the book, flipping it open to the second chapter.

**Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death**

Thalia's breath hitched and Nico frowned. They spoke pretty fluent Percy by this point, and there was a good chance that... the two demigods exchanged glances and came to a silent agreement. Bad enough already. They didn't need to go adding to the tension.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as though they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

A sad-sounding chuckle broke the short pause between paragraphs, and Athena allowed the daughter of Zeus a moment to comment.

"Sorry," she managed a weak smile. "It's just… most of us used to argue that he _is _psycho."

**It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds never existed.**

**Almost.**

The interruption was not, as it had been the past uncounted times, from any of the people in the throne room.

In fact, it was from another light-flash that ended in a startled whinny and clatter-thud and something sounding suspiciously like a loud yelp further off.

Percy was on his feet in a heartbeat, shaking off his apathy in favor of checking over his friend.

_Boss!_ Blackjack's voice as he scrambled to his feet was a welcome thing, and Percy threw his arms around his flying horse's neck, _What the… is this Olympus?_

Percy couldn't find his voice.

"Yes," Poseidon stood, moving closer.

Blackjack blinked, suddenly seeming a bit nervous. _Uh, Lord? What happened?_

"You know my son, then? You are from his time?"

_Yeah. He saved me. Wait. 'His time'? You saying we're in another time, Lord?_

"Yes," Poseidon stated sadly, "The world you come from… no longer exists."

Blackjack shuddered, a full-body movement, and changed the subject. _Uh, Boss? I think I hear Mrs. O'Leary._

Percy let go of his horse, took in the vague hint of direction, and moved towards the open doorway of the throne room.

Being as it was sized for gods in much larger forms, the truck-sized hellhound didn't have any trouble bowling him over as she came crashing into the room, barking excitedly upon sighting her master.

Poseidon had his trident in hand and aimed almost before anyone else could react—and three simultaneous shouts stopped him from blasting the thing to nothingness. The fact that one of them came from the descendant of Pegasus was shocking.

Nico and Thalia raced to place themselves between the Sea God and his target, "Please don't hurt her! She's Percy's!"

"… My son has a _hellhound_?"

A moment to process—and the hellhound let Percy stand, giving him one last lick for good measure.

Hades stared, too. "I let Poseidon's son keep a hellhound?"

Nico sort-of shrugged. "Not exactly. Long story. I think it'll be in the one with the word 'Labyrinth' in the name."

Percy gave the first smile he had since the devastating news the night before—small, wavering, and sad, but there. "Blackjack, I'm glad you and Mrs. O'Leary made it. The Fates said… they would try. They didn't exactly guarantee your survival."

Poseidon eyed his dog-slobber covered son for a moment and quite abruptly sluiced him off with a shower of seawater, leaving him both clean and dry.

Percy shifted, looking at his two 'pets'. "Mind if we message Camp? These two would be more comfortable there."

Poseidon nodded and summoned a screen of water.

Percy tossed a drachma in, "Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering. Chiron, Camp Half-Blood."

The droplets immediately became an image of the centaur during what looked like archery lessons.

Poseidon stepped forward when his son hesitated and stepped back, understanding the problem, "Chiron."

The centaur turned and immediately bowed. "Lord Poseidon!"

Every camper in the archery range froze, then turned to bow as well.

"We are in the middle of something that is likely to take at least a week. Things are… complicated. We need you to care for a pegasus and a hellhound. The hellhound is friendly, so long as you do not attack her. Her name is Mrs. O'Leary. The pegasus is Blackjack. Treat both with respect."

Chiron was obviously floored. Despite his millennia training demigods, no one had sent a friendly hellhound to camp before. Still, he didn't argue. "Of course, Lord Poseidon. When should I expect these arrivals?"

"Blackjack will be flying, so he may be there in half an hour or so. Mrs. O'Leary… she will be arriving momentarily," Poseidon turned his head, looking at his son. "Percy, if you would instruct your hellhound on where to go?"

Percy nodded and whistled.

Mrs. O'Leary bounded into view of the Iris-message.

Chiron blinked.

"Go to Camp Half-Blood, Mrs. O'Leary. I'll see you there as soon as I can."

The hellhound tilted her head and whined.

Percy moved into view of the message, rubbing her foreleg affectionately, "Go on, girl. Chiron will take care of you."

Another whine, but she turned and bounded into shadow.

"Blackjack, you too."

A snort, _Later, Boss. Come talk to me when you can, right?_

Percy nodded.

Chiron eyed Percy, then Poseidon. He was no fool.

Poseidon smiled, a little sadly. "Percy is my son. It is… apparently a very long story. A son of Hades and a daughter of Zeus are here as well. The Fates sent them to us from a troubled time."

Percy made a strange sound, half anger, half grief, and Olympus shook.

"Percy, calm yourself," Poseidon said, but his voice was gentle. "We _will_ find a way to work this out."

Percy drew a deep breath and the shaking stopped.

Chiron was now a little alarmed, and Percy turned to offer him a tired smile. "Chiron, it'll be fine. Zeus, Hades, and Dad are being civil. Most of the other major gods are here, except Hestia… she's there at camp, right? Mrs. O'Leary loves Hestia. It'll work out. We'll _make_ it work."

Poseidon nodded his agreement. "No quests for a few weeks at least, unless Hestia gives permission."

Chiron nodded, "Of course," he said, right as Mrs. O'Leary appeared almost on top of him.

She took one look at Chiron and stepped forward, nudging him with her nose before licking him in the face.

Percy snickered half-heartedly as the Iris-message blinked out.

Poseidon and the demigods made their way back to their seats.

"Well, that was an amusing little break," Hephaestus muttered.

Considering how much he hadn't spoken the day before, it was a bit of a surprise to hear him.

"On with the book!" Hermes cried in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Athena rolled her eyes and reopened the book, found her place, and continued on.

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

**Something was going on. Something **_**had**_** happened at the museum.**

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

Poseidon looked over at his son, who appeared to be lost in thought.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room.**

"Wow, Pops, you're really mad!" Apollo said. "Shattering windows?"

Zeus declined to comment, although the withering glare spoke volumes.

**A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time.**

This time, Athena interrupted herself. "I wonder… Could it be that his father's mood affects him? Or the general state of the sea?"

Poseidon blinked. He'd never stayed angry for a terribly long period of time, but it seemed that this fight—whatever it was—was ongoing. It was theoretically possible.

Athena shook her head and went back to reading.

**My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway almost every class.**

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

Athena shook her head a little sadly, understanding the frustration written between the actual words. "It means drunkard," she told Percy.

He offered a slight nod and something that might have been an attempt at a smile in return, but his eyes were going distant again.

Athena sighed, picking up where she'd left off.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

Nico interrupted, looking confused. "That doesn't sound like Paul."

Thalia shook her head, "No, it doesn't. Paul's a great guy—I mean, he was still under the Mist and everything, but when Sally said Percy needed help, he picked up one of the demigod weapons from the ground and came to help. He even managed to take out a couple of the injured monsters."

Percy shook himself out of his daze. "Not Paul," he stated flatly. "Gabe."

And that was that. Athena sensed the awkward atmosphere wasn't going to dissipate on its own and went back to reading.

**And yet… there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm windows, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees.**

Thalia made a face.

**I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

**I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

Percy shook himself, eyes clearing slightly. "Yeah, figured out the why on that one pretty soon after."

Poseidon started to get worried. More worried, at any rate.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the **_**Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology**_** across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards.**

Athena had to pause and re-read that description to herself. She looked over at the other two demigods. "Is that really what it's like?"

Nico shrugged, "I'm usually less descriptive when I think about it, but it's really hard to read when letters just won't stay put."

Thalia shifted, "I haven't had much English schooling. I remember it being hard when I was little, but not much more than that. I do all my reading in Greek, now. It's much easier."

Athena frowned, but returned to reading.

**There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

Nico smirked, but it was half-hearted. "But Percy," he managed to sound a little more upbeat than he looked. "Chiron and Charon _both_ like you!"

Percy blinked. "What?"

Poseidon did _not_ like the sound of that.

"Charon said—"

"You know what? I don't want to know," Percy informed Nico. "Besides, all I did was bribe him."

"_And_ tell my dad to give him a pay raise. To his face."

Hades groaned, not even wanting to think about it.

"… Please tell me you aren't going to invade the Underworld."

Percy bit his lip.

Poseidon covered his face.

Athena went back to reading.

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **_**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**_

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "… worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening when your best friend is talking about you to an adult.**

Hermes and Apollo looked at each other, then simultaneously said, "Not taking that dare."

**I inched closer.**

"…**alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the **_**school!**_** Now that we know for sure, and **_**they**_** know too—"**

"**We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

"**But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline—"**

"**Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"**Sir, he **_**saw**_** her…"**

"**His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

"**Sir, I… I can't fail my duties again."**

Thalia burst out of her seat, looking outraged. "Gods bless it, Grover! How many times do I have to tell you! It wasn't your fault!"

Suddenly it hit her that, not only was she talking to a book, but the person she wanted to yell at for idiocy… was gone with the rest of their world.

She collapsed back into her seat, tears in her eyes.

Athena bit her lip, but continued.

**Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

"**You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"**

Poseidon closed his eyes and very deliberately reminded himself that his son was _still alive._

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

"At least he took the evidence," Hermes muttered.

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow **_**clop-clop-clop,**_** like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"**Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn…"**

"**Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

"**Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam like he'd been there all night.**

"That would have been more convincing if you hadn't heard him, huh?" Hermes asked.

Percy didn't answer, not seeming to realize that the god was speaking to him.

Hermes frowned. He didn't really know the kid, but so far, his twelve-year-old self seemed pretty fun. Okay, so, according to Apollo, everything the kid had ever known had been completely obliterated. That—yeah, he could see how that would upset someone.

But why Poseidon's son so much more greatly than the other two demigods—demigods that were once again casting worried looks at their cousin.

The mood of the entire group was somber, now. Apollo obviously knew something Hermes didn't, because he was giving their little cousin a look that said he wanted to do something to help, but couldn't think of what. Even Zeus seemed almost concerned.

Poseidon set his hand on his son's shoulder, managing to get the stirrings of a reaction.

Percy glanced up, managed an insincere half-smile that didn't really reassure his father, and went back to staring at his knees.

Not sure what else to do, Athena continued reading.

"**Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

"**You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

"**Just… tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

Dionysus snorted, "Like that will work. Satyrs can read emotions."

"In his defense," Hades spoke up, managing to surprise pretty much everyone, "He was not aware that this 'Grover' was a satyr."

The Wine God sat back with a mild huff.

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"When aren't you?" Thalia asked in a vain attempt to lighten the mood.

Percy shrugged, glancing at her briefly. She bit her lip at the blank expression and dull eyes. "Percy…"

He shifted, "I'll be okay."

Nico started as though he was going to say something, then stopped. He didn't know what he _could_ say.

Athena had lowered the book, watching the demigods carefully. Finally, she decided not to get involved in the interaction and settled for asking if anyone else wanted to read.

Hades shrugged and got up to take the book, "I will."

He would never admit it out loud, but the boy interested him. Anyone who could take out Alecto with neither training nor experience was worth keeping an eye on.

He returned to his seat and found their spot.

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"_Three hours?"_ Apollo looked mildly horrified. "Now _that's_ torture."

Hades ignored him, as did most of the others, though Hermes cracked a smile.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

"**Percy," he said, "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's… it's for the best."**

"Wow," Nico muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Insensitive, much?"

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

Thalia glowered and clenched her fists, little sparks beginning to dance across her knuckles.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

"**I mean…" Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

**My eyes stung.**

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to be kicked out.**

"**Right," I said, trembling.**

"**No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say… you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"**

"**Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

"**Percy—"**

**But I was already gone.**

Athena, oddly enough, was the one to interrupt. "That… was not the best way for the teacher to approach such a topic. And certainly not the best place."

Aphrodite nodded, "That was mean."

Demeter agreed as well, in her own odd way. "He should eat more cereal. It would help keep him from being so insensitive."

Hades groaned, "Must you always go on about cereal, woman?"

Zeus cleared his throat meaningfully, "Read, Hades."

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were **_**rich**_** juvenile delinquents.**

Thalia couldn't help but interrupt, "Percy, really?"

Before Percy could respond, Nico butted in. "_How_ many national monuments has he destroyed?"

Thalia sat back, considering. "… You have a point."

Hades looked at his son for a moment, then decided not to ask.

**Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

Most of the gods twitched.

"Well, he didn't know about you, yet," Thalia pointed out.

There were grumbles, but no one outright zapped Percy, who was still not paying much attention.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer, and I told them I'd be going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job, walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

"**Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as though I'd never existed.**

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

Nico and Thalia snorted simultaneously.

Hades ignored the interruption.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

Hermes shook his head, "Never confess, kid."

Again, Hades kept reading without pausing.

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

"**Oh… not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"**

**He winced. "Look, Percy… I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers…"**

"**Grover—"**

"**And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and…**

"**Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

Thalia smiled, fond and sad. "He really… was, wasn't he?"

Zeus and Artemis both looked at her.

So did Nico.

Thalia sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It just doesn't seem real that everyone we knew…"

Nico nodded, "I know. But… Percy gets it."

Every eye in the room turned to the third demigod, who responded by raising his head. "Yes," he agreed, voice oddly mild, "Yes, I do."

Poseidon returned his hand to his son's shoulder, squeezing gently.

Percy offered him a grateful smile, though it was small and faded quickly. "Can we just… get on with this?"

Hades turned back to the book.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

_**Grover Underwood  
Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill  
Long Island, New York  
(800) 009-0009**_

"Why fancy script?"

Dionysus smirked, "It's funny."

Zeus glared, "You could get young demigods killed that way. Change it to something easier to read."

The Wine God huffed, "Yes, Father."

Hades went back to reading.

"**What's Half—"**

"**Don't say it aloud!" He yelped. "That's my, um… summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never thought his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"**Okay," I said glumly. "So like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded, "Or… or if you need me?"**

"**Why would I need you?"**

Thalia looked sharply at Percy, who looked a bit sheepish despite his general depression.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended **_**me**_**.**

"Okay, yeah," Nico agreed, "That would be confusing."

Hades kept reading without missing a beat.

"**Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"**

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole buss filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound to the side of the highway.**

Aphrodite wrinkled her nose, "Gross."

Hephaestus tilted his head, "Well. At least it's a fairly simple fix."

Percy, recognizing the point in the story, got up and started to pace behind his chair.

Poseidon stood uncertainly, looking at his son.

Percy hadn't told his friends about this. And he couldn't say anything concrete about it without giving away things that he didn't learn until years later. He waved a hand, "Please, just read."

Poseidon didn't sit back down, instead going to stand behind his own chair, where he could see Percy restlessly moving back and forth.

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars.**

Demeter scowled.

**On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

Hades paused, glanced at his pacing nephew from the future, then Athena.

She nodded slightly. They did sound familiar in a distinctly unnerving way.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

Poseidon paled, taking a half-step towards his son, and everyone else in the room caught on.

Hades didn't stop to let anyone comment.

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

Poseidon shuddered, as did Thalia and Nico.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

"**Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"**

"**Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

"**Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Not the time to joke, son," Poseidon whispered, eyes flickering between Hades and Percy.

Percy just kept pacing.

"**Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

Percy's friends and father did the same.

"**We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

"Please tell me you listened to him," Thalia whimpered.

"**What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

"**Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that **_**snip**_** across four lanes of traffic.**

The son of Hades and the daughter of Zeus rocketed up out of their chairs. "Percy, why didn't you _tell_ us!"

Percy gave him a look. "Could you do anything about it?"

Nico slowly sat back down, shaking his head, pale and trembling. Thalia didn't look much better, tears gathering in her eyes.

Poseidon took two steps and grabbed his son, pulling him into a rough hug, chanting "No, no, no," under his breath.

Hades had to ask. "How are you still alive? From what I understand, this was years ago for you."

Poseidon went silent.

Percy sighed, "It… they were showing me what needs to be done. It wasn't… immediate."

He couldn't be specific without telling too much, and he felt his father's grip around him tighten.

Not really sure what else to do, Hades once again went back to the book.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

"**Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat, "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

Percy sagged against his father's arms, shaking his head slightly. "Whoa."

Hades paused and Apollo started to his feet. Poseidon was faster.

Fear crept up the Sea God's throat and he called forth a blob of seawater which he then pressed against his son's chest.

Percy gave a soft groan of relief, blinking and getting his balance back. He didn't pull away from his father's firm arm around his shoulders, though, because if he were honest with himself… he really needed something solid to lean on. Not in the physical sense, either. Everything but his two cousins, his flying horse, and his giant dog had been stripped away.

And now, he was starting to realize, his father. Perhaps he hadn't been born yet, but Poseidon cared.

It was… comforting.

"I'm okay," he said after another few seconds, "I just—I'd forgotten about that part."

After a moment, Hades shrugged and went back to reading.

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

"**Grover?"**

"**Yeah?"**

"**What are you not telling me?  
**

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see at back at the fruit stand?"**

"**You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like… Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

Hades interrupted himself, "No, nephew, they are much, much worse."

Poseidon shot him a dirty look, but Percy only gave a tired shrug.

Hades quickly went back to reading.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds.**

Hermes managed a nervous chuckle at the similarities in thought patterns between uncle and nephew, but it was short-lived and no one else seemed to have anything to say.

**He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

"**The middle one took out her scissors, and cut the yarn."**

Poseidon flinched, briefly tightening his grip on his son.

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.**

Athena raised an eyebrow. "Observant."

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

"**Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

"**This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

Thalia broke in, "He was—ugh! I am _so_ glad I got to yell at him later. It wasn't his fault!"

Percy gave her a weak smile, "Yeah. He kn—" he cut off the word he'd been about to say, expression darkening. "He learned that later on."

"Percy," Nico hesitated, "… it's not yours, either."

Percy's eyes closed and he once again sagged against his father's strong hold. "I know," he managed to keep his voice fairly even. "I know."

A snap of Poseidon's fingers changed his mini-throne copy and Percy's chair into a small couch and he guided his son over. They sat, Percy leaning heavily against Poseidon's shoulder, and Hades went back to reading.

"**What last time?"**

"**Always sixth grade, They never get past sixth."**

"**Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

"**Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

"**Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked,**

**No answer.**

"**Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking what kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

Hades closed the book, "That's the end of the chapter."

Poseidon let out a shaky breath, as did his niece and nephew.

"Percy," Thalia asked after several seconds of uneasy silence, "Why _didn't_ you tell us?"

Percy rolled his eyes, though the gesture was half-hearted. "Because if I did, everyone would have always been assuming that every time I left camp would be the last time."

"… and yet, somehow, you've always managed to pull through."

"Despite the multiple near-death experiences," Nico added on.

Poseidon hissed out a breath, eyes widening.

"That's not good," Apollo agreed. "I'm going to go join Uncle P. and my cousin on the couch."

Poseidon's quick glance spoke of gratitude.

Thalia's eyes widened. "Curse it, Percy… you never catch a break, do you?"

Athena remembered what Apollo had said about the boy's curse and actually winced. "So… he will be repeatedly getting injured while we read?"

"Yeah, that's about the size of it," Percy sighed.

"Well, that makes this a little more interesting," Ares grumbled, sitting back in his chair.

He found himself hit in the face with freezing saltwater, Poseidon's dark glare saying he'd better start keeping his mouth shut.

Zeus intervened, "One more chapter, then we shall take a break. Who will read?"

Thalia stood up to retrieve the book from Hades, "I will."

_xxxx_


	4. Chapter 3

_I'm alive!_

_Chapter 3_

**Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants**

Hermes tried to lighten the mood, still tense from the revelation that Percy had seen the Fates. "So, judging from the trend… there are going to be a lot more weird chapter titles, aren't there?"

Nico shrugged, not really caring, still eyeing his cousin in clear concern. Thalia actually bothered to respond, though her tone said she wasn't paying much attention to the God of Thieves, "Knowing Perce… probably."

No one else seemed quite ready to comment, so Thalia went back to reading.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

Thalia had to re-read that line. "Percy, you…" she shook her head, "Wow. That's probably the first I've heard of you breaking a promise."

Percy managed a brief, sheepish smile.

Nico shifted uncomfortably, looking down as another instance crossed his mind.

Thalia hesitated, then shook her head, returning to the book.

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"**

Hermes grimaced, and he wasn't the only one. "All right, yeah. I probably would have ditched him, too."

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him and made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

"**East One-hundred-and fourth and First," I told the driver.**

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

Thalia paused to smile sadly, remembering the woman who'd always treated her as a daughter. "The best."

Nico nodded, "Yeah. Best mom _ever._"

Percy didn't trust his voice enough to say anything, the loss still too fresh.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

A slight pause, then Thalia decided not to ask.

Nico couldn't quite smother his snort, the sound more than a little bitter as he looked at his sea-eyed cousin. "Yeah, you're pretty much proof of that, too."

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

"I never knew that," Thalia murmured, staring at the page.

Percy shrugged, still leaning against his father's side, "Things got better later on."

Thalia nodded and went back to reading.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad. I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest traces of his smile.**

"Well. That's a law-breaker," Apollo observed from Percy's other side. "Not allowed to visit kids unless they know, and even then only on extremely rare occasions."

Poseidon didn't seem too worried about that.

"Fish-face _has_ always been one of the more rebellious of us," Athena observed dryly.

Thalia huffed and raised her voice a bit as she continued.

**My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.**

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, she told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

Hermes whistled, visibly impressed. "Not even a lie. That is one awesome woman, Uncle P! Can I meet her?"

Poseidon frowned, "You realize _I_ have not met her, don't you?"

"Considering we're working on changing whatever this future is… it is quite possible that you never will," Apollo murmured, sounding a little… off.

Percy flinched, but remained silent. Poseidon tightened the arm wrapped around his shoulder, giving him a makeshift hug.

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

Many of the listeners wrinkled their noses or made sounds of disgust, but no one actually commented.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard, The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along… well, when I came home was a good example.**

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

"All right," Thalia just couldn't keep reading calmly after that description. "How did Sally put up with that? She…" the daughter of Zeus trailed off, seeing Percy's flinch.

Poseidon pulled his son closer, wanting to say something to reassure or calm, but knowing there was really nothing he _could_ say to dull the pain of having just lost a loved one.

"Just keep reading," Percy's voice cracked once and he went silent, shifting to bury his face against his father's shoulder, breathing the comforting scent of a sea breeze. It wasn't much, but it helped.

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

"**Where's my mom?"**

"**Working," he said, "You got any cash?"**

Poseidon scowled at the thought of anyone treating _his_ son that way.

Nico was drawing shadows about him and Zeus snatched the book away from Thalia as her hands started to spark, keeping her from lighting it on fire, though the cover was visibly singed. He hastily found the spot his daughter had left off at, hoping that continuing to read would diffuse some of the tension.

**That was it. No **_**Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**_

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that might make him handsome or something.**

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called it our "guy secret". Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

Thalia growled, the electricity that had flickered out due to her cousin's sarcasm reappearing with a crackling vengeance. Nico was silent, but every shadow in the room suddenly seemed deeper, the ones closest to him taking on form, tendrils of darkness curling at his feet.

Poseidon tightened his grip on his son, outraged, and Olympus trembled.

The gods—even Zeus—were visibly disgusted.

Percy snapped out of his daze enough to speak up. "…You know, none of this has happened, yet…"

A pause. Poseidon was the first to settle, the minor earthquake stilling. Thalia huffed and quite deliberately cut the electricity. Nico scowled, but the shadows lost their solidity and he sat back with his arms crossed. "He better get what he deserves."

Percy looked at Zeus, ignoring that comment.

Zeus took the hint and went back to the book.

"**I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should have covered up everything else.**

"**You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"**Am I **_**right?**_**" Gabe repeated.**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

Various expressions of disgust rounded the room.

"**Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

"Consider it done," Dionysus piped in, startling everyone into looking at him.

"What? Can't I do something for the demigods every once in a while?"

Nobody graced that with an answer.

Zeus cleared his throat.

"**Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

**I slammed the door to my room, which wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study". He didn't study anything I there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

Aphrodite apparently just couldn't keep quiet about that. "Eew," she stated.

Strangely enough, it was Artemis who agreed. "That's disgusting."

There was a pause as the majority of the gods stared at the two, who generally agreed about as often as Poseidon and Athena.

Zeus pulled his eyes back to the book, deciding not to dwell on the increasing strangeness. First Athena and Percy during the first chapter, and now Artemis and Aphrodite? What was the world coming to?

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home. Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares of Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

A few raised eyebrows followed that last sentence, but no one interrupted.

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

By the end of that, Poseidon's grip around his son's shoulders had visibly tightened and Apollo looked about ready to grab his 'medical kit'. Percy glanced up, murmuring a tired reassurance that most of the room couldn't hear, but had the two gods relaxing.

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all of the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say anything unkind about anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

Zeus paused, re-reading the last sentence silently before glancing up. "A _very_ patient woman."

Thalia smiled in memory, tinted with sadness at the thought of never seeing Sally again. "Yeah, she didn't even get mad when Percy and I managed to put out the power and flood the entire floor of the apartment building. Or when Nico shadow-traveled straight into her three seconds later. She just sighed and told us not to fight indoors."

No one could think of anything to say that wouldn't sound like a weak platitude. The silence lingered several seconds before Zeus cleared his throat and returned to a written past.

"**Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like all the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?"**

"Sounds like Sally," Nico mused, starting to realize he'd lost more than he'd thought. Sally'd taken him in as much as he'd allowed, and now… he was without a mother again.

Thalia murmured agreement, melancholy sinking over her as well.

Percy only closed his eyes, breathing out shakily. He honestly hadn't expected to outlive his mother. He'd been completely unprepared for the loss—most of them, all his friends at Camp, the knowledge that he might not see them again every time they parted ways was there. But his mother had always been his one blessed constant, the one thing that would be there whenever he came home. _He_ was the one who was supposed to die first. He was the Half-Blood, the demigod, the _hero._ It was his place to die for them to live in peace… and now, everything he'd done, every battle, every victory… was not enough.

Zeus didn't stop, hoping to get through these books as quickly as possible. Each page seemed to only bring the demigods pain—and though he was not known for his caring nature, untouchable as the sky he ruled, he did not like to see the grief in his daughter's eyes. The daughter who shouldn't even be born, yet sat beside him in a Hunter's garb, the daughter who felt of wind and lightning, as much a part of his domain as a thunderstorm.

Even the Sky was not unreachable.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"**

This time, Zeus did pause, allowing disgusted and outraged sounds to peter out before reading on.

**I gritted my teeth.**

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And, honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster had said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

**Until that trip to the museum…**

A few glances were shot Percy's way, concern not-quite-hidden by some of the deities and two of their children. Poseidon's son didn't react, face as unreadable as the sea.

"**What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

"**No, Mom."**

Hera glowered, "Lying to your mother?"

Zeus raised his voice ever so slightly and pointedly continued reading.

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"Not to her," Thalia murmured, more for the gods' benefit than anything else. "Sally… was clear-sighted."

Percy shuddered once, the entirety of Olympus trembling for a moment.

Poseidon twisted to wrap his son in a tight hug, offering the only comfort he could at that moment.

It seemed like every word would only serve to bring their children pain.

Hades set a hesitant hand on Nico's shoulder, earning a surprised glance and an equally hesitant quirk of lips. Zeus, as his hands were occupied, could only eye his daughter with unmasked concern, to which she offered a half-smile and a tired nod.

The Lord of the Sky returned to the book.

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

"**I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

Percy glanced up, something wistful flickering into his eyes.

**"Three nights—same cabin."**

**"When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

"He would," snorted Hermes, derisive.

Zeus ignored the interruption.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

"Of course not," Artemis rolled her eyes sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "She decided to make an elaborate joke."

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step father** **is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

Aphrodite sat up straighter, clearly offended. Zeus hurriedly read on before she could comment.

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

**"We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

Nico scowled and Thalia looked about ready to go find the man and exact some pre-emptive revenge.

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

"Do it, kid!" Ares urged, perking up.

Poseidon didn't actually comment, but the fountain outside in the courtyard started spraying more forcefully.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad. Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement. "Yeah, whatever," he decided. He went back to his game.**

"Idiot," Athena smirked, an expression that held more malice than anything. Though the boy was Sea spawn, he was starting to grow on her. And his mother seemed a good woman.

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. " Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air. But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken.**

"Perhaps you should not dismiss your observations so easily," Athena scolded Percy, trying to get some kind of reaction.

He looked up at her, and there was a brief flash of something in his eyes that quickly devolved into raw hurt. He looked away, blinking back tears.

Poseidon glared at his niece, who sat back in confusion. What had she done to elicit such a reaction?

A quick glance around the room revealed that the other two demigods, at least, knew—though none of the gods seemed to. Thalia was biting her lip, a tear slipping from one eye, while Nico's fists were clenched in frustrated grief.

Zeus sighed and read on.

**She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his '78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.**

"He didn't even help?"

Percy took the offered distraction, shaking his head in reply.

"Despicable," Artemis decided.

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

Poseidon scowled, "Like _he'll_ be driving."

**Like I'd be the one driving.** **I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture,** **a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon.**

A simultaneous blink. "You can do that?" Nico asked.

Percy offered a vague shrug, "Haven't tried again," he stated, voice rough.

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

"Fair choice," Athena murmured.

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

Apollo had to ask, curiously looking to his uncle, "Would that even bother one of your kids?"

Poseidon shifted, "Water temperature will not harm them."

**I loved the place.**

Apollo grinned a bit, "Point proven."

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad. As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy,** **and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"Why so much blue? Isn't that a Zeus color?"

Zeus kept reading, having caught the next sentence.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue.**

**She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"Rebellious _streak?_" Nico asked, voice only wavering a moment before steadying.

Percy had the grace to look sheepish.

Thalia smiled, just a little. "More like an obedience streak. Rebel," she teased. If it came off a little weak, no one said anything.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father.**

**Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes." Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

"I don't care about that," Poseidon assured his son, who smiled a bit in response.

"Thanks."

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But... he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile. I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me...**

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

Poseidon glanced at his son, who immediately moved to reassure. "I understand now. I'm not angry anymore."

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire. "I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think... I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

Hera opened her mouth, but Zeus rather pointedly read the next sentence.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I **_**have **_**to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

"Not even for a Big Three demigod," Thalia agreed, starting to shake off her melancholy. She knew she'd need time to come to terms with everything, but for now, she could put it—mostly—out of her mind.

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are.**

**I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

"For Percy, _nowhere_ is far enough away to be safe."

Poseidon's grip on his son's shoulder tightened briefly.

**"Safe from what?"**

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

**Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into.** **My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

"Interesting," Athena murmured.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."**

Poseidon frowned slightly, attention caught between his son and the book.

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born—talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

**"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."**

"She kn—knew that the campers got a bead for each year they survived," Percy explained, mostly for his father's benefit. "She couldn't stand to think that…" he trailed off, eyes going distant, before refocusing. "She didn't want to take me somewhere and have it be the last place she saw me."

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.**

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

Thalia grimaced and Nico sat back, scowl firmly in place.

Zeus paused to send a questioning glance at his daughter.

"Percy's dreams are very prophetic, even for a demigod," she explained.

Zeus nodded.

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, **_**No!**_

A pause, but Zeus was disturbed enough that he didn't bother to actually taunt his older brother for the apparent loss. Hades wasn't the type to simply urge others to fight. He could—and would—take a more direct involvement.

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.**

"How could you, Uncle?" Hermes teased, though he was a little less enthusiastic than he usually was.

Poseidon cast an irritated glance at his messenger nephew and didn't bother replying.

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door. My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.**

A few raised eyebrows met that statement, but no one actually interrupted.

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

**My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

_**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" **_**he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you **_**tell **_**her?"**

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly.**

**I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on—** **and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be ...**

"Ah," Dionysus stated, sitting back slightly. So it _was_ that satyr. He was a little young to be going after demigods for a few more years, but the Wine God supposed that made sense. The demigods _were_ from a formerly possible future, after all.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: **_**"Percy. **_**Tell me **_**now**_**!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. **_**Go**_**!**_**"**_

**Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

Zeus closed the book, "Chapter end," he announced.

Poseidon was not looking forward to the next chapter. From the vague references and pointed details, he assumed that was when another monster would show up. Percy's chances of having come unscathed out of an encounter with a monster sent out specifically to hunt him were not good at such a young age.

That thought in mind, he turned to his son, "Percy, were you hurt during whatever followed?"

Percy thought that one over, remembering. "Yeah. I don't know how badly though. The next week was pretty hazy."

Poseidon grimaced and Apollo rather pointedly pulled out a flask of nectar. Not what most of them had _wanted_ to hear, but about what had been expected.

"Can we just get this over with?" Percy asked, sounding weary.

"Very well, if no one protests, we may read one more chapter," Zeus decided. "Then we shall take a break. No more extensions."

Nods of agreement came from all the gods and Zeus looked around the room, "Who will read?"

Artemis shrugged off-handedly and went to take the book.

_xxxx_


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

**My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting**

Percy's slight wince was telling.

Artemis paused to look at him. "Your mother did not know how to bullfight, did she?"

Percy shook his head.

Poseidon frowned.

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.**

Ares grinned, "My kind of driving."

Hephaestus rolled his eyes, "That explains the repeated _extensive_ damage to your bike."

A few of the less serious gods snorted.

Artemis rolled her eyes and raised her voice slightly as she continued.

**Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.**

A slight pause before the Moon Goddess shook her head and read on.

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo— lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.**

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"**

Artemis hesitated, visibly restraining herself from commenting before reading on. No one else seemed to inclined to interrupt—yet, anyway—curious to see what was going to happen.

**Grover's eyes flitted to the rear view mirror, though there were no cars behind us.**

Hades covered his face, "I don't think he's looking for cars," he muttered.

"**Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

"**Watching me?"**

"**Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I **_**am**_** your friend."**

"**Um… What **_**are**_** you, exactly?"**

"Didn't he just take a Greek Mythology class?" Dionysus asked.

Athena rolled her eyes, "It was a _Latin_ class," her tone implied 'you moronic drunkard'.

Zeus wasn't the only one to stare at her. It was _uncommon_ for the Goddess of Wisdom to defend a child of Poseidon, to say the least. After a moment, Artemis pulled her gaze back to the book.

"**That doesn't matter right now."**

"**It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"**

"Satyrs don't _like_ to be called donkeys," Hermes couldn't help but point out.

Oddly, it was Apollo who rolled his eyes at that, "Not really the time, Hermes."

The Traveler God looked over at his friend, frowning. Apollo nodded at Poseidon, who was visibly tense. Hermes winced.

**Grover let out a sharp, throaty "**_**Blaa-ha-ha!"**_

**I heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

"**Goat!" he cried.**

"**What?"**

"**I'm a **_**goat**_** from the waist down."**

"**You just said it didn't matter."**

"Kid has a point," Ares muttered.

Artemis ignored him.

"_**Blaa-ha-ha!**_** There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such an insult!"**

"**Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like… Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

Athena shifted as though she was going to say something, glanced at Poseidon, and decided to remain silent.

Ares wasn't quite as wise. He rolled his eyes, "Slow, much?"

He was promptly doused in icy sea water.

Apollo scowled at his half-brother, "No one's _told_ him anything!"

Ares considered Apollo, his uncle, and two scowling demigods and decided not to make another issue of it.

"**Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a **_**myth**_**, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

"**So you **_**admit**_** there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

"**Of course."**

"**Then why—"**

"**The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

"**Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

"Poor boy," Demeter said sympathetically, "He must have been so confused."

Artemis privately agreed with the second part of that statement, and was almost to the point that she would agree with the first. _Almost_. She took a moment to glance around the room, using the vague gesture to look at the boy in question without being observed.

He was leaning against his father's side, apparently asleep.

A flicker of hesitation; a pause. The way the other two demigods kept looking at him, the way his father and her brother couldn't quite hide their worry. Add that to the fact that one of those two demigods was one of her Hunters…

No, Artemis didn't pity him. She doubted he would appreciate _pity_ anyway. She _did_, however, have to admit to concern, to herself if not aloud.

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

"**Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

"**Safety for what? Who's after me?"**

"**Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

Poseidon growled.

Artemis kept reading, hoping it would prevent another _altercation_.

"**Grover!"**

"**Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.**

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.**

Percy shifted, twisting to bury his face against his father's side. In response, Poseidon tightened his arm around his son's shoulders.

"**Where are we going?" I asked.**

"**The summer Camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."**

**"The place you didn't want me to go."**

"**Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

The floor shivered.

"**Because some old ladies cut yarn."**

Hermes gave a nervous chuckle, "Well, when you put it _that_ way…"

No one else could quite work up any kind of amusement; though Apollo, Poseidon, and the children of Zeus and Hades seemed to be the worst off.

"**Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means—the fact that they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to… When someone's about to die."**

"**Whoa. You said 'you'."**

"**No I didn't. I said 'someone'."**

"**You meant 'you'. As in **_**me**_**."**

"**I meant **_**you,**_** like 'someone'. Not you, **_**you**_**."**

"**Boys!" my mom said.**

Hera gave an approving nod, "A strong woman."

Artemis nodded agreement, but didn't stop reading.

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure that she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

Poseidon closed his eyes and pulled his son closer.

"**What was that?" I asked.**

"**We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

The two gods on the couch looked like they were going to join the chant.

**I didn't know where **_**there**_** was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She rarely **_**hadn't**_** been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

Even Ares was getting into the story by this point, unwilling to interrupt for the moment.

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner… And a sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling **_**boom!**_**, And our car exploded.**

Percy jerked with a short cry and crumpled.

Poseidon had half the couch ensconced in seawater before anyone else could react. Apollo hovered outside the sphere, clearly concerned, but the boy's posture quickly relaxed. He turned his head to look at his father, and after a few moments the water vanished.

Artemis had stopped reading, surprised, before she remembered what had been said earlier. Though she held no fondness for most men, she did not like inflicting pain without reason. Though rationally she knew this was not her doing, the idea of continuing to read made her uneasy.

Apollo noticed. "Getting tired of reading, Arty?"

Silently grateful for the offer of a way out, Artemis nodded.

Surprisingly, it was Hera who stood to take the book.

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

"**Percy!" My mom shouted.**

"**I'm okay…"**

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.**

**Lightning.**

Here Hera paused to scowl at her husband, who studiously ignored her.

**That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

Hera paused again, consideringly.

"He is loyal," Artemis observed. "Unusual."

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

Despite everything, Thalia couldn't help but chuckle. That was just so _Grover._

"**Percy," my mother said "we have to…" Her voice faltered.**

**I looked back. And a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The site of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

"Monster," Hephaestus stated flatly.

Athena nodded agreement and Poseidon scowled, water beginning pool beneath the couch. Apollo fidgeted, faint flickers of golden power dancing on his fingers.

**I swallowed hard. "Who is—"**

"**Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

"Please," Poseidon murmured, an arm once again around Percy's shoulders.

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.**

"**Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

"_**What?"**_

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**

"**That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."**

"Like he'd leave her," Nico muttered, just loud enough to be heard.

Hera, having seen the next sentence, couldn't help giving her own comment. "What a good son. Why are there so few like him?"

Ares didn't answer, but Hephaestus folded his arms. "You threw me off Olympus."

The Queen of the Gods flushed golden, but didn't snap back, returning to the book instead.

"**Mom, you're coming too."**

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.**

"**No!" I shouted. "You **_**are**_** coming with me. Help me carry Grover."**

"**Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

Thalia dropped her head briefly into her hand, muttering, "Of all the things…"

Percy shot her a glare, showing more life than he had for some time.

The Daughter of Zeus caught the look, "What? He may have been the bravest satyr ever, but that was…"

Percy conceded the point, turning his eyes to the side.

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he **_**couldn't**_** be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands—huge meaty hands—were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head… was his head. And the points that looked like horns…**

"**He doesn't want **_**us**_**," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

"**But…"**

"**We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

Thalia shook her head; though she had been unaware of what had been going on around her as a tree, she knew Percy would not leave his mother behind. Not even if it killed him. He _couldn't_.

**I got mad, then—mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

"**I told you—"**

"**Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.**

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

**Glancing back I got my first clear look of the monster. He was 7 feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of **_**Muscle Man**_** magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin.**

Athena rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.

**He wore no clothes except under wear—I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms—which would've looked funny, except the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming Brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.**

Poseidon closed his eyes, breathing out slowly. The Minotaur. Theseus had faced the monster, but he had been older; had training, weapons, and armor. Even so, Pasiphae's son had almost killed him.

Book-Percy was twelve, effectively defenseless, lacking training and weapon. He had never regretted being the cause of the creature's creation more.

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be a real.**

"Oh, he's real alright," Hades said grimly.

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's—"**

"**Pasiphae's son," my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

"Oh, _that's_ reassuring," Nico muttered, scowling.

"**But he's the Min—"**

"**Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

"An intelligent woman," Athena observed.

**The pine tree was still way too far—a hundred yards uphill at least.**

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows—or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

"**Food?" Grover moaned.**

"**Shhh," I told them. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

Athena made as if to comment, but stopped herself. It was, after all, a book.

"**His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

Poseidon groaned, closing his eyes and drawing his son closer. He hoped the car crash will be the only injury this chapter—not naïve enough to hope for the entire book, much less the series—but at this rate, he was doubting it.

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

Percy manage the weak smirk remembering that. It had been the only _good_ thing to happen the entire night.

_**Not a scratch**_**, I remembered Gabe saying.**

"Oops," Hermes snickered despite the serious situation.

**Oops.**

Hera shook her head as others started to laugh, though the amusement was slightly subdued. The Queen of the Gods went back to reading, voice firm.

"**Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way—directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

Athena couldn't quite stop herself this time, "A very smart woman, to think of such a plan with so little time," she tilted her head slightly, frowning, "Though it likely will not save them."

Poseidon had already known that, but hearing aloud did not help. It was a struggle to keep his breathing even.

Apollo started fidgeting with a flask of nectar.

"**How you know all this?"**

"**I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."**

"**Keeping me near you? But—"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

**He'd smelled us.**

No one dared interrupt—not even Ares, who really wanted to comment on finally getting to some action.

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but that hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.**

**The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.**

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right—it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that would work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.**

Poseidon form wavered briefly before solidifying. The stress was getting to him—he wasn't sure why, but somehow Percy was different. The danger to his son, past and present, was more frightening than he could remember anything having been before.

The temptation to collapse into water was only staved off with the knowledge that Percy would need him to be able to act quickly when injury came.

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not for me this time, or my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother said, and the likes of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.**

**The bull-man grunted, pawing at the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back for the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

Percy closed his eyes, though it did nothing to block out the memory. Even taking into account his demigod dreams, the nightmares he had about the Minotaur and his mother were still among the worst.

"**Run, Percy!" She told me. "I can't go any further. Run!"**

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she told me to do, of the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.**

"**Mom!"**

The floor trembled ever so briefly before Percy got himself under control.

Most of the gods glanced at Poseidon, only to see him eyeing his son in concern. Even Zeus checked his urge to comment, able to see that now was _not_ the best time.

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply… gone.**

"**No!"**

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over snuffling, my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

**I couldn't allow that.**

**I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

Thalia dropped her head into her hands, guessing what he was about to do. Nico groaned, equally able to read his cousin's thought process.

Apollo and Poseidon tensed.

"**Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

"**Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

**I had an idea—a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out the way it the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

Seawater started to pool around the bottom of the couch and Apollo began to shift his fingers, flickers of healing power dancing along his palms.

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

**Time slowed down.**

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**

Hera paused, shook her head, then continued before anyone could comment. Apollo and Poseidon started to relax. A mistake.

**How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

Percy jerked; without the adrenaline of the moment in his system he was dazed by the blow.

With barely a glance, Apollo knew what was wrong. "Whiplash and a minor concussion," he stated.

Poseidon nodded to the younger god. Apollo's healing would be more effective than water in this case.

The God of Medicine worked carefully, so the healing took several minutes.

Once healed, Percy straightened a bit and nodded to Hera.

The goddess took the hint and went back to reading.

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. The shaft is backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, a starting to realize that this thing only had one gear: forward.**

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

"**Food!" Grover moaned.**

**The bull-man wheeled for him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought that Harry had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—**_**snap!**_

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock.**

Percy crumpled, and once again there was a break from reading as Apollo attended to the demigod's moderately severe concussion.

**When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

**The monster charged.**

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.**

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—not like my mother, and a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

**The monster was gone.**

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief. I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn't going to let him go.**

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's. They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

"**Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

Hera closed the book, "That is the end of the chapter."

Poseidon glanced down at his son and frowned, not liking the expression on his face. It was pain—not physical pain, but broken-hearted grief.

He was obviously not the only one to be concerned, as the other two demigods look to their fathers for permission before moving over to the couch.

Thalia knelt before her cousin, setting a concerned hand on his knee.

Percy looked up, managing a wan smile. "I'll be okay," he assured. "I—it may be a while, but I'll be okay."

Zeus cleared his throat, "It is time for a break."

Everyone else was willing to concede the point.


End file.
